Cleft palate bulldog needs our help!
Meet Pork Chop. He is a 25 week old English Bulldog puppy with a cleft lip, palate and a peg leg ( meaning he does not bend the leg). He was tube fed for the first 8 weeks of life to keep him from aspirating and ending up with aspiration pneumonia. I took him on once he could eat hard food at around 11 weeks old. My name is Christina and I am a Veterinary Technician. ( below is a picture of pork chop and I when he was about 6 weeks old)
He will need extensive surgery to fix the cleft palate (above I have added a picture of his cleft ).The doctors at my work have never seen such a large cleft and cannot fix it. He will now need to see a specialist to achieve a normal life, if it is possible to fix the cleft. This is a huge health concern for him and the surgery is essential for him to have a somewhat normal life. I clean the cleft daily to keep him free of infection. He still ends up with sinus infections and sneezes food through his nose but gets by okay with my help.
As he continues to grow, so does his cleft and the chances of him aspirating are even greater, as is the chance of sickness or even death.
From the information that I have gathered it could take multiple surgeries and a very rough recovery, but in the end will give him a healthier and better life . He has been through so much already and it breaks my heart, but if he does not get the surgery he will become sick and even worse might not survive. It is not if but when.
Surgery is always a risk, but with him being brachiocephalic breed (meaning short snouted breeds) the risk is naturally higher under anesthesia.
As far as his leg goes, I have been doing physical therapy with him since the day I got him . He is now able to bend his leg but it is not fully functioning yet .
I do water therapy 3 times a week and regular therapy daily . I have high hopes that in the future his leg will have full function if I keep up the therapy .
I am asking for donations to help pay for his cleft palate surgery that he needs to get done with the specialist. Please help me give him a better life and the one that he deserves . We are working hard to help him and the odds are against us. Thank you for taking the time to read Pork Chop's story and for any donations. God bless.
8/16/17. UPDATE....
So I have located a Veterinarian who is confident she can perform Pork Chops surgery . She is a doctor at Ohio State University, name Dr. Ham. I am thrilled that we have found a doctor that will agree to do the surgery. God is on our side♡♡. The surgery is set for October 19th. I am so nervous.